


The Darkness Beyond Reset

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous-Gender Frisk, Deconstruction, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-04 21:37:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5349407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk wakes up one day in another dimension composed of pure nothingness, where the laws of time and space have no meaning. Confronted with the true nature of loading and resetting, they must learn to face the true consequences of altering the timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Cold... why is it so cold?_

Frisk's consciousness began to stir. They felt an icy wind blow across their body, chilling them down to the soul. Their mind felt blurry and indistinct, as though it were struggling to take shape in the stifling frigidity. Finally, an coherent thought began to form.

_Where am I?_

Frisk attempted to move, but their body refused to listen to them. They were disconnected from all sensation, save the blistering cold, and their eyes were glued shut, perceiving nothing but utter blackness. No matter how hard they willed it, they could not move.

Frisk's mind began to fall into the grip of panic. What was going on? Why couldn't they move? Where _were_ they? As these questions raced through their mind, the soul-numbing chill grew more intense. The panic they felt began to fade, and their thoughts became blurred, less distinct. They felt a strange calmness overtake them, washing away what still remained of their fear.

It was a sensation that Frisk quickly recognized. They had felt it many times before, whenever they had been killed. They remembered the feeling of their body ending, and the powerful urge to let go of their thoughts and sleep forever.

But Frisk would not let go so easily. They had overcome death many times before, with nothing more than sheer force of will. And now, more than ever, they could not afford to die. Everyone was happy now. They had managed to escape the Underground without anyone getting hurt, and the monsters had come to live happy and fulfilling lives on the surface. And the friends they had made had grown to love and care for Frisk as though they were family.

But there was one monster they could not save. One monster they needed to save more than any other. Frisk had reset countless times, searching for a way to save him. And Frisk was determined to save that monster no matter what, and no matter how many resets it would take.

Frisk could not allow themself to die forever. Not here. Not now. Not while they still had things they needed to take care of. They disregarded the urged to rest eternally and forced their body to open its eyes.

At first, Frisk didn't even realize their eyelids were open. Surrounding them in every direction was nothing but pure darkness. They soon realized that everything had become even darker when they opened their eyes, as impossible as that seemed.

Feeling began to return to Frisk's limbs, and they tried to pick themselves off the ground, only to realize that there was no ground beneath them. There were no surfaces that they could touch, and gravity to speak of, and no means of telling which way was up or down. Frisk was simply suspended there, floating in the endless darkness of the unknown.

"Hello?" They called out. "Is anyone here?"

There was no response.

"Mom? Dad? Uncle Sans?"

Once again, there was no response.

"Papyrus? Undyne?" Frisk called out, louder than before. "Alphys? Mettaton?"

Still no response. It was as though there words had simply been swallowed by the gaping maw of the void.

"H-hey! Someone answer me!" Frisk cried out in desperation. "Anyone! P-please, there has to be someone here! If there's anyone who can hear me, please answer!"

...

...

...

But nobody came.

"N-no..." Frisk whimpered. "I-it can't be..." Their body grew colder still, and they desperately curled their body into a fetal position, hoping to preserve what little warmth they had.

"I-I don't want to be alone!" Frisk sobbed. "P-please, somebody help me!" Tears streamed down their face, and their desperate wailing echoed around them, only to be swallowed by the abyss. Frisk's crying continued nonetheless. They cried, and cried, and cried, until their eyes were left red and stinging, and their throat dry and scratched.

By that point, the crushing despair of loneliness had begun to fade. Frisk hiccuped softly, carefully wiping the tears from their eyes. There was no point in crying any more.

"Human... why are you here?"

Frisk nearly jumped at the sound of the sudden voice. They lifted their head up and looked to see Undyne some distance in front of them. But something about her was... off. The color in her body was faded and greying, as though her very soul had been sucked dry of its vibrancy.

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. "Undyne! Oh, thank God!" They reached out towards Undyne, trying desperately to move themself closer. As they willed their body to move Frisk could feel themself traveling across the blackness of space. But no matter how much they moved, the guard captain remained just as far away as before. Just outside of their reach.

"You're wasting your effort, human," said Undyne. "There's nothing here for either of us. Just more cold, and more emptiness."

"No!" Frisk called out, stretching their arm as far towards Undyne as they could. "I'm not leaving you behind here!"

"Don't pretend that you care," Undyne bitterly retorted. Her anger was palpable, but subdued. The cynicism was apparent in her voice; this was not the enthusiastic and passionate guard captain Frisk once knew.

"H-huh?" said Frisk. "What do you mean?"

"You can feel it, can't you?" Undyne replied. "The black wind is howling. I knew I might die if I fought you, but this? I could never be prepared for this. Prepared for..." she trailed off, bowing her head grievously. "...for the void."

"I don't even know how long I've been here," Undyne continued. "It could have been a moment, or it could been an eternity. But it's been long enough that I've forgotten what it means to feel anything besides the cold. And I'm alone. So... alone."

Undyne let out a deep, weary sigh. All at once, what little color in her body remained rapidly began to fade. Her grey became dark, darker, and yet darker, melting into the blackness that surrounded her.

"Undyne, wait!" Frisk called out. "You don't have to be alone, I promise! I'm here for you!"

"It's..too...l.ate..." Undyne's voice returned faintly, barely audible at all. "I...ca..n't...f..ight...th..e...d...ar....k....n.....e........s.......s..."

"Undyne! Undyne, no!" Frisk cried out. They desperately willed their body with all of the determination at their disposal to move towards Undyne. This time, the distance between the two closed as Frisk moved towards Undyne, rapidly approaching her at speeds Frisk had never before dreamed of moving at.

Frisk reached out with a hand as they approached, trying to touch Undyne before she disappeared completely. The tip of Frisk's fingers were mere inches away from Undyne when her body finally dissapeared, their arm passing harmlessly through the empty space that she once occupied.

Frisk slowed to a stop. They couldn't believe what had just happened. Out of all of the monsters they'd saved, Undyne was by far the most tenacious. She would never give up in a million years. This was the first and only time Frisk had seen Undyne lose her will to keep going.

And now she was gone.

At first, Frisk didn't react at all. They simply floated there, staring blankly. They struggled to comprehend what they had experienced. It was not long before the weight of what had just happened hit them.

A sudden rush of emotions entered Frisk's mind, an overwhelming flood of fear, anger, confusion, and despair pouring into their soul all at once. Frisk clenched their fists tightly by their sides, trembling with rage and sadness.

" _Why!?_ " Frisk howled. "Why is this happening!? What did I do to deserve this!? What did _she_ do to deserve this!? Is this someone's idea of a joke?! Well, it isn't funny!" The howls of anguish became incoherent screams, venting their raw emotions into the darkness. Soon, between the impossible cold and the exhaustion, Frisk finally grew quiet. They breathed heavily, ignoring the intense discomfort of the frigid air filling their lungs and the nearly excruciating pain in their throat from the screaming.

"It's no use," Frisk croaked. "If I can't even save one monster, what can I do?" Frisk closed their eyes, and their body went limp. It was hopeless. They were all alone, with nothing in the world of darkness that they could hold onto to give them the strength to move on. Giving one last sigh, Frisk felt the cold envelop their body at an increasing rate, rapidly causing it to go numb. Their thoughts became faded and vague, and their consciousness gradually began slipping away.

Just before they passed out completely, however, Frisk felt a slightly warmer sensation embrace them, and could just barely make out a strange, distorted voice speaking.

"❄♒♏❒♏, ⧫♒♏❒♏..."


	2. Chapter 2

Frisk's eyes slowly fluttered open. They sat upright in their bed, grogginess still filling their head from the previous night. A gentle light filtered through the window by the bedside into their room, filling it with the glow of the morning sun.

Then the memories came flooding back. Frisk remembered being trapped in an vast sea of nothingness, surrounded by nothing but the endless darkness. They remembered the blistering cold and the soul-crushing hopelessness. They remembered seeing Undyne fade into oblivion before their eyes, completely powerless to save her. They remembered feeling the creeping sensation of death as they finally lost the will to live.

Frisk began to sweat. In a panic, they frantically glanced around the room, searching for a sign that anything was wrong. To their surprise, the room seemed to be how they'd remembered it: a small bedroom with simple furnishings, on the second story of the house they'd moved into with their adoptive mother.

A sigh of relief escaped Frisk's mouth. _It was all just a dream._

With a yawn, they slowly made they way out of bed, and climbed onto the floor. Strangely, they realized that they hadn't even bothered to tuck themself in, instead choosing to sleep on top of the bed's covers. Even more strangely, the bed itself seemed absolutely pristine: it was as though the sheets had just been washed, and there was not a single blemish or crease on the pillow or cover that suggested someone might have been sleeping on it.

Curiously, Frisk took a closer look around their bedroom. The entire room was almost impossibly clean: there were no dirt stains on the carpet, no stray pie crumbs left strewn about, and no blemishes anywhere to be seen. The only sign that the room was anything short of spotless was the dust that hung in the air, completely undisturbed.

 _It looks as though nobody's used this room for a long time_ , Frisk thought. _But that can't be right._

Dismissing the thought, Frisk walked over to the door leading to the upstairs hallway. They'd worry about the room later, what mattered was that they were safe. An abandoned room was better than being trapped in an infinite void. They reached out with a hand and tried to grab onto the doorknob. As they did so, however, something strange happened.

As Frisk reached out to touch the doorknob, their hand instead passed straight through it.

"W-what?" Frisk gasped. In a panic, they reached out and grabbed the doorknob again. Just as before, their hand phased through the knob, as though it wasn't even there. One more time they frantically reached for the door, only to obtain the same result. A deep, powerful sense of dread welled up within Frisk.

"I... I don't understand! What's happened to me? What's happened to my body?" They took a deep breath, fighting to regain their composure. "Okay, calm down," they said to themself, "going into a panic won't help anything. There's gotta be an explanation for this."

An idea suddenly formed in Frisk's mind. They reached out towards the door again, but instead of reaching for the doorknob, they held out their palm and touched it against the wooden surface. Their hand felt no sensation whatsoever from the act, no feeling of wood pressing against their skin. Frisk extended their arm even further, and it harmlessly passed straight through door. Frisk recoiled, pulling back their arm almost immediately.

 _Okay... so my body is in... incor..._ They stumbled over themself trying to remember the word. _...uh, like a ghost. But why the heck is it like that? Am I... dead? For real this time?_

Frisk considered the thought briefly, but quickly dismissed it. They'd felt death before, and it didn't feel anything like this. The sensation of leaving their body was unmistakable, as were the brief moments where their soul was without a body before they willed themselves into another timeline.

 _This is all related to that dream somehow,_ they realized _. But I don't think it was just a dream. Something happened to me, and I need to find out what it was._ _Maybe mom can help me figure it out._

Steeling themself, Frisk tentatively placed their arm through the door, watching carefully it as it passed through undisturbed. With their arm sticking into the solid barrier, they moved forward cautiously, placing more and more of their body through the door. With a deep breath, they closed their eyes tightly and lurched forward, eventually bringing the rest of their body with them. When Frisk opened their eyes, they found themself on the opposite end of the doorway. To the right of them was the door to Toriel's room, and just in front of them were the stairs that lead to the first floor. To the left of them was the bathroom, where the sound of a running shower could be faintly heard.

 _Thank God, it worked_ , Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. They turned towards the bathroom, which Toriel was no doubt occupying. "Hey mom," they called out loud, "could you finish up in the shower? I need your help with something! I, um..." Frisk hesitated. "Gosh, how do I explain this?"

The noise of the shower dissipated, and a gentle humming began to sound behind the bathroom door.

"I, uh... I think something strange is happening to my body!" Frisk continued. "It feels funny, and it's changed in ways that I don't understand. I... I need to talk to you about this, I think it's really important!"

The bathroom door opened, and Toriel walked out, her fur still damp. Her body was completely bare, save for a towel which was wrapped around her torso, preserving her decency. As she made her way across the hall towards her room, Frisk shielded their eyes, crying out loudly in surprise.

"Ack! Mom, put some clothes on!"

Toriel paused momentarily. "What was that noise?"

"Huh?" said Frisk. "Mom, what are you talking about? It's me, remember?"

"Strange," Toriel wondered aloud. "I thought I heard a sound just outside the guest room a moment ago. Oh well, I suppose it is nothing to worry about."

Frisk's jaw dropped. " _What!? Guest room!?_  Mom, that's _my_ room! Wh-what are you..."

Their words died in their throat as Toriel continued walking down the hallway, before entering her her own bedroom.

Frisk's heart sank. "Sh-she didn't hear me. She didn't even _see_ me," they realized. "Not only that, she thinks my room is a guest room... it's as though I don't even exist at all!" Frisk began breathing heavily, the sudden realization feeling like it would crush their soul with its weight. They closed their eyes tightly, desperately trying to shut the world out as they grappled with the panic that was rapidly spreading through their mind.

When Frisk opened their eyes again, the hallway was gone. Once again, they found themself in the endless sea of pitch blackness from before they had awakened. Floating several yards away from them was Toriel, fully dressed, and staring at them despondently.

"Why, my child?"

"Mom!" Frisk yelped. "You can see me?"

Toriel gazed back at Frisk with forlorn eyes. "Why must you consign us to darkness? After everything you've done for us, why must you take it all away?"

"M-mom? What are you talking about?" Frisk pleaded. "Why am I here again?"

Toriel didn't answer. She merely stared back at Frisk. The sadness in her gaze pierced straight through them, pressing down on Frisk's soul with the weight of its despair. Frisk couldn't help but flinch at the sensation, desperate to escape the overwhelming fear and confusion that flooded their mind.

And then, just as soon as the void had reappeared, Frisk opened their eyes to see the upstairs hallway of their home. Everything was exactly the way it was before they void had inexplicably appeared before them.

Frisk breathed heavily, eyes frantically darting around the room. They hunched over and tightly grasped their forehead, trying as hard as they could to soothe the overwhelming anxiety that had overtaken them. As they finally began to calm down, Frisk summarized his thoughts aloud in a single sentence.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?"


End file.
